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In The Courtyard Of The Kabbalist (2013)

by Ruchama King Feuerman(Favorite Author)

3.84 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

1590177495 (ISBN13: 9781590177495)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

NYRB LIT

review 1: Topical novel set in Jerusalem featuring three protagonists: two recent American immigrants, one is a devout man who works for a Rebbe and helps solve struggling people''s problems, a woman who is looking for a faith based life and a Torah studying man, and a disabled Arab janitor. The plot concerns recently found ancient artifacts and the impact they have on the Arab/Israeli conflict and on the relations between the main characters.
review 2: I'm so disappointed by this book. The premise was so original. A disillusioned haberdasher from New York moves to Israel and becomes assistant to a Kabbalist, a rabbi who people flock to for help with every problem you can imagine. By chance he meets an Arab who is a janitor on the Temple Mount. The encounter, though bri... moreef, has a profound impact on this janitor, who is deformed and has been rejected by his mother. He meets a young woman who has returned to Judaism from a secular upbringing. The interplay between these characters, as well as a number of other, less prominent characters, was complex and should have been compelling. The story line was constructed to show a major impact on the development of all of them. However, there was not one character that I could really like a lot. I felt on the outside looking in the entire novel, rather than being drawn into the experience. Grrrr! There was much to like about the novel, and I learned something, certainly, about the impact of politics on present day Israel and the population there. For that reason I gave it 3 stars. It should have been 2.5 stars, really. I just wanted so much more. less

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